"Kirk watches the Minor League system pretty closely," Haley said. "He'll call a couple times a season, sort of like a pep talk.

"I figured this was my end-of-the-year call."

Not really. There was a little more to it.

"Kirk asked me what I was doing once the season ended," Haley said. "I told him I had my flyrod out, I had tied some flies and I had my (hunting) bow out.

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"He said, 'Aw, you sound too busy.' I said, 'Too busy for what?' He said, 'Too busy to spend September up here with us.'"

This was it: The Show. The Big Leagues.

After absorbing the scope of the offer, Haley remembered that maybe his flyrod wasn't in real good shape; his bow could use a good restringing; and those tied flies would keep.

Barely a hesitation, Haley signed on.

Once the Minor League season ends in early September, Major League teams are allowed to expand their rosters from 25 to as many as 40. It's common practice to add some coaches to work with the extra players.

Usually, those coaches are managers from the higher level teams. However, since Haley has been working with the Class A Silver Hawks for seven years, his experience is a plus.

"I've worked with about 75 or 80 percent of the guys on the Diamondbacks roster," he said. "That makes it easy for me to relate to those guys."

Haley won't necessarily be a rookie in the Diamondbacks dugout. He was there for six games during the exhibition season.

"I told Kirk I was nervous," Haley said. "He said, 'We only won eight games (in spring training) and you were there for six of them. You're our good luck charm.'

"I said, 'Yeah, but those were spring training games. They don't count. These games count on the back of bubble gum cards.'"

Haley will be walking into a pennant race when he joins the Diamondbacks. Arizona is battling it out with San Francisco for the top spot in the National League West.

“Pennant races are great,” Haley said. “Every pitch, every out is that much more important. This will be great.”

Haley will likely join the club Thursday Sept. 8 in Arizona for a series against San Diego. Trips to Los Angeles and San Diego will be followed by home dates against Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Los Angeles to finish the season.

“In (Class) A ball, you take care of yourself (while traveling),” Haley said. “In the Bigs, you don’t touch a thing. They clean your locker, pack it, put it on the bus, then the plane, and it’s set up when you get to the next place. I’m not used to that.

“In the spring, the (clubhouse attendant) tried taking my bag. I said, ‘I’m a Minor League guy, I carry my own bag.’”